Plan Your Trip Times Picks

In North America, Halfpipes That Are a Dream

By ALISON BERKLEY

Published: January 16, 2005

SNOWBOARDERS and skiers might share the same habitat, but there's no denying they're different animals in terms of preferred terrain, equipment, clothing, attitude, demographics and style. Snowboard-friendly resorts recognize riders' needs and are willing to invest the resources necessary to attract them.

To draw snowboarders' business, resorts offer up-to-date terrain park and pipe facilities with warming huts and sound systems. Flat spots are minimized, and benches provided at the tops of lifts to make strapping in comfortable and convenient.

Major snowboarding events showcase the sport and lure a younger crowd. To promote their ability to produce good riders, resorts often sponsor teams of top professionals. And snowboarding is integrated into all aspects of the resort, from marketing materials to snowboard lessons and clinics.

A few top ski areas, among them Taos, N.M., and Deer Valley, Utah, still ban snowboarders. But here are four resorts where snowboarders dominate the scene.

BRECKENRIDGE, COLO.
(800) 789-7669, www.breckenridge.com

The funky, candy-colored historic downtown streets of Breckenridge ooze youthful exuberance, with hopping night life and a laid-back atmosphere that, unlike some of Colorado's glitzier resorts, does not involve designer ski suits or celebrity clientele.

Best known for its supersized, immaculately groomed halfpipe, Breckenridge, which has been a haven for snowboarders for two decades, pioneered the ''bigger is better'' approach as the first resort in the United States to purchase a Super Dragon (a massive hook-shaped grooming tool dragged behind a Sno-Cat to help carve out a larger, smoother halfpipe).

This season, the resort will offer four terrain park/pipe areas, ranging from the monster jumps of the Freeway Terrain Park to the confidence-building beginner area at Trygves. Breckenridge, which counts Todd Richards, a world halfpipe champion, on its staff, has been the site of many of snowboarding's biggest contests and events over the years, including the first World Snowboarding Championships in 1986.

MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN, CALIF.
(800) 626-6684, www.mammothmountain.com

Surfers can drive to Mammoth, in the central Sierras, from Los Angeles or San Francisco in less than six hours. Far removed from the fancier resorts of Lake Tahoe, Mammoth's atmosphere is hardly conducive to ski snobbery, and that makes it an ideal destination for snowboarders. The resort has six terrain parks covering over 70 acres, with two new sound systems for the 2005 season.

Tommy Czeschin, a member of the United States Olympic snowboard team, and Danny Kass, a silver medalist at the 2002 Olympics, are on the staff here.

STRATTON MOUNTAIN, VT.
(800) 297-4000, www.stratton.com

Stratton Mountain helped cultivate snowboarding from its inception. Since 1985, the U.S. Open National Snowboarding Championships has been a Stratton Mountain tradition, growing from a small gathering to a major event that brings fans to Vermont in large numbers. The real star of the event has always been Stratton's halfpipe, which has grown bigger and better with every year.

Stratton has four terrain parks and many snowboarding clinics and programs, including two camps with Ross Powers, an Olympic medalist and Tricia Byrnes, a member of the 2002 United States Olympic snowboard team.

Whistler/Blackcomb, with 8,100 acres of mountain terrain, 360 inches of snow a year, eight terrain parks and summer sessions on Blackcomb Glacier, is the site of major events like the 2005 Snowboard World Championships, which were scheduled to begin Saturday.

Whistler Village has an urban feel, where professional riders, snowboard photographers, ski and snowboard film makers and industry insiders mix with an international cosmopolitan crowd that sets it apart from other slow paced mountain towns. The action doesn't stop when the lifts shut down: go-go dancers, bars and late night clubs keeps snowboarders going far into the night. ALISON BERKLEY